After following up a gut-wrenching, opening-week loss with a lopsided win at home, Wisconsin has an opportunity to stabilize itself in its third contest of the season against visiting Bowling Green Saturday.
The Badgers (1-1) rebounded following a brutal defeat at the hands of LSU by topping Western Illinois in its home opener Sept. 6. The 37-3 victory over the FCS team, however, prompted more questions about Wisconsin’s 2014 outlook than it did alleviate concerns that materialized against LSU.
Bowling Green (2-1) comes into Madison hot off a thrilling 45-42 victory over Indiana Sept. 13. The Falcons, who are favored to win the Mid-American Conference, run a fast-paced offense led by redshirt sophomore quarterback James Knapke and redshirt junior running back Travis Greene.
Bowling Green totaled 113 plays, 73 of which were passes, against the Hoosiers in an effort that wore out Indiana’s defense. The high-intensity offense that head coach Dino Babers has constructed plays with such fervor out of necessity, however.
The Falcons have racked up 520.7 yards per game offensively, but their defense has allowed a whopping 569.3 yards per game and an average of 36 points through its first three matchups.
No. 19 Wisconsin has a valuable chance to work out the kinks in its offense against a Bowling Green team that allowed 59 points to Western Kentucky and 42 points to Indiana.
Through its first two games, Wisconsin has failed to establish the dominant running game that has defined Badger football in recent years and that many believed would be the cornerstone of this year’s offense. Redshirt junior Melvin Gordon has picked up 178 rushing yards and one touchdown in two games, numbers that have head coach Gary Andersen looking for answers.
Andersen stressed in a press conference Monday that Western Illinois limited Wisconsin’s running game by stacking the line of scrimmage with defenders, inhibiting the offensive line’s ability to make combination blocks that open rushing lanes. The Badgers made a concerted effort during their bye week to solve this problem.
“We’ve always been a combination team, getting heavy double teams up to the second level,” said redshirt senior tackle Rob Havenstein. “We really went back and took a look at our fundamentals, the basic technique of playing offensive line and that’s getting steps in the ground, hand placement, low pad level, getting to your end point and all that good stuff and we kind of took those and put them over to the double team.”
The offensive line’s emphasis on the basics may improve Wisconsin’s ability to run the ball, but sophomore running back Corey Clement feels that it is up to himself and Gordon to rejuvenate the Badgers’ ground game.
“They can only hold us to so much and this running game has eclipsed over this past bye week,” Clement said. “I believe we put in a lot more hours film-wise and just seeing what guys we need to cover up to get the long run. Me and Melvin need to get it going. It’s only us running this rock and we’ve got to be the tandem that we’re expected to be this season.”
While Saturday may prove to be Gordon and Clement’s breakout game, redshirt junior quarterback Tanner McEvoy will look to build on his own strong performance against Western Illinois in which he completed 23 of 28 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns.
McEvoy displayed chemistry with redshirt junior wide receiver Alex Erickson, who feels that Wisconsin can continue its success through the air, which in turn will allow the offense to build a more balanced attack.
“It really complements the run game, those short little passes to soften up the defense, and then get back to running, and then hit play action passes, so they all work together,” Erickson said.
Defensively, the Badgers will try to continue the dominance they established in the second half against WIU, when they allowed just 34 yards and held the Leathernecks scoreless.
The defense prepared for Bowling Green’s pass-heavy offense by playing against two scout team units in practice that simulated the Falcons’ breakneck pace.
“You have a gang of scouts lined up and when one runs, the next one’s lined up,” sophomore cornerback Sojourn Shelton said. “Coach A(ndersen) is constantly moving the ball so you’re constantly moving and actually the way that we practice, we actually move faster than what you would see in the game and I think that’s a good thing and a very effective way to prepare for a fast-paced offense.”
Wisconsin’s game plan of controlling its possessions offensively should allow its defense time to rest and regroup. Bowling Green’s hopes rest on pushing the game into a shootout and scoring last.
If the Badgers can control the time of possession and force key stops, they should have ample room to get the running game back on track while building more momentum on defense.
